Soup, soap, hugs, mean hope

Ask anyone who has ever been homeless, and they'll tell you
about Brother Benno's Kitchen. It provides four basic ingredients:
soup, soap, hugs and hope. And, that's just what Oceanside's Harold
Kutler has titled his new book, "Soup, Soap, Hugs, Hope."

In July 1983, Harold and his wife, Kay, started a non-profit
foundation to help the poor. They named it after a Fuller Brush
salesman-turned Benedictine monk named "Brother Benno" of the
Prince of Peace Abbey in Oceanside.

Brother Benno was born Thomas Garrity of Bowling Green, Ky., in
1910. He entered the monastic life in 1933, and for 25 years
distinguished himself both in cooking and eating, according to
Harold's new book.

Brother Benno arrived in Oceanside in 1962, and began feeding
the poor out of the Abbey kitchen. But, getting the needy up, high
on the hill where the Abbey sits, was a challenge. Enter Kay and
Harold. They opened a kitchen to feed the homeless and needy in
downtown Oceanside and asked permission to name it in honor of
Brother Benno.

"Harold, I've always wanted a kitchen downtown, where we could
feed the people who have no way of coming up here to the Abbey,"
Brother Benno told the Kutlers. "How soon are we going to
open?"

The Kutlers owned a small, 700 square-foot house with a 400
square-foot garage and a large yard.

Harold's book, with the journalistic help of writer and
volunteer Barbara Ladwig, details the progress of Brother Benno's
down through the years. The kitchen opened in 1983; the men's
recovery center in 1984; the center for homeless women with
children in 1985; the home for mentally ill homeless men in 1989;
the Brother Benno Center in 1991; a transitional house for men in
recovery in 1992; and a similar home for women in 1998.

Brother Benno died Oct. 29, 1992, but his legacy has lived on
through Kay and Harold and their foundation. They fed their 1
millionth meal in 1995, and continue to help the poor and homeless
on a daily basis through their kitchen, their warehouse and their
thrift shop. Today, some 50 percent of the folks they serve are
children. And, the program goes far beyond just food, soap and
clothes. There's a prescription drug assistance program so the
folks Brother Benno's serves don't have to choose between buying
food or medication.

Harold's book is an important historical tome, which documents
vast facilities and services he and Kay have built over the years,
which is a wonderful testament to Brother Benno.

Drop by the Brother Benno Center or the Thrift Shop to pick up a
copy of "Soup, Soap, Hugs, Hope." Of course, you know where the
proceeds of the book will go. While there, don't be surprised if
you become a volunteer.

Notes for Tom Morrow can be e-mailed to
tmorrow@nctimes.com
, faxed to
(760) 757-2072, or call (760) 901-4074. Find his previous columns
on the Internet at www.nctimes.com.